MWMSports Mk2 190 LWB 3.2TDCI

[MWMSport]

I've been meaning to do a write up for sometime now but here is the story of my MK2 Transit LWB 190 that I plan to restore and modernise into something that can be used daily for towing duties and occasionally kipping in the back of at race track or wake park.

No one can challenge the fact that retro is bloody cool. My brother and my friend both own 2door Mk2 Escorts and another friend a Hillman Imp. I've done many projects in my time but never anything retro or classic based. I really need a van in my life. I have 2 Westfield's that I trackday and I also Wakeboard all over Europe (not that I'm any good!!). My original plan was to buy a MK8 Jumbo and build a camper, which tbh would be bloody brilliant for what I need, but where is the fun of buying something ready to go.... What ever I bought had to be fast, reliable, fuel efficient and have as many comforts as possible. MK2 Transit was clearly the obvious choice then...

I set about looking for a van. It had to be a 190 as towing is a must for me and Malta seemed the best place to look. I joined the Transit groups on FB and found a family owned LWB 190 for sale. I've never imported anything before or done a deal like it, and just to add more confusion into the mix, the country had just gone into it first lockdown. The seller was very upfront and seemed a god guy, crunch time came and I had to either back out or do the deal. I went into the bank and asked for a sum of money to be sent to a man I'd never met, in a county I'd never been to for a van I'd never seen!

5 days nervous days later it was here Me and my Brother collected it from the Isle Of Sheppey and to my relief it was exactly as described- A 28k Fairly solid Mk2 190

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[MWMSport]

Now what's the plan for this little gem I here you say??

Well once back at unit I decided to take it for a little drive round the farm. I can tell you this, It was neither fast, fuel efficient or had any modern comforts at all. Being completely honest it drivers like an utter pig, not because there's anything wrong with it, its just old tech.

Me and my friends discussed a couple of options, it was apparent that whatever was going to power this van needed to be common rail diesel with plenty of torque and have a way of either adapting the standard management into the Mk2 or have some sort of aftermarket ECU capable of powering it. A 2.2 Mk8 setup was pretty favourable as they map to around 200bhp but I could just forsee it being a pig to get running. The radio in a Mk8 is an integrated part of the dash and has the menu functions built into it, thus ditching the funky shaped radio meant ditching the menu functions. The Mk7 would be far easier to integrate into the Mk2 but the 2.4 (even mapped) wouldn't offer the power I wanted and although fitting a diff better suited for acceleration, I want to drive this van out to Europe and having something screaming at 3500rpm at 70mph just made me quiver.

It hit me like a bang exactly what with van needed. Sadly a very rare gem was going to have to give its life for my project but this van needed a MK7 3.2TDCI. 250bhp is achievable with basic modifications, they are fuel efficient and have enough torque to turn the world backwards.

A couple of days later I was driving home is this quite awful coloured 3.2 jumbo limited.

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The plan is to fit as much of this van into my MK2 while retaining the retro looks inside and outside. I want the ABS, TC, AC, EW, CL, HSA the lot fully working and functioning in my MK2. As I want all the functionality and something that drives really nicely its clear to me that the front subframe, Uprights etc is all going to have to go into the MK2. I've never done this level of fabrication before so I am a bit nervous.

The first thing to do was to break up the jumbo, which if I'm honest I was gutted to do. Id only driven it a couple of hundred miles home but I was very attached of what was such an awesome van. I just had to keep the end result in sight. (No the front bumper is available, It was sold ages ago)

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I needed the front suspension mounting points to build a backwards jig from but space was tight and a jumbo shell was a big item to store. I had to give it a little shorten as the rear part was useless to me.

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That's about as far as I've got so far. In the background I have been sorting the registration of the MK2 with the DVLA which actually turned out to be pretty painless and is now sorted and I fitted a towbar to the Mk2 for the sole purpose of this photo...

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[Jay2018]

Hope you take this project to the end mate!

[Altransit]

Wow, that's quite a project you've set yourself there , but looking at stuff you've already done, I don't doubt that you can do it

Please keep us posted with the progress

[hetman]

Excellent idea! Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

[Luke]

my kind of project

[dumper]

It’s going to be good after all a 3.2 has given up its life.

[Airthies]

Excellent stuff mate good to see this thread up at last.
Keep the pics and updates coming and remember, there's no such thing and a silly question... The answer just depends on the idiot your asking

Sent from my A55ho11 using Crapatalk

[MWMSport]

Bit more of an update to bring the project thread up to date-

I really was impressed with the Mk7 Jumbo and always said if it was any other colour than "piss cake" yellow, I probably wouldn't of been able to cut it up. I was messaged on Facebook when selling the uneeded parts off the old lime by a guy looking for an engine. Obviously I needed my engine so told him it wasn't available. He said he'd been looking for an engine for ages for his van and was getting the hump and might just sell it. He sent a couple of photos and it was silver Anyone who knows me will know I just cant help myself. It was a 450mile round trip and I was really busy with work so I sent my mate too collect...

Duhdah.....

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Id always intended to rebuild the engine from Old Lime before sicking it in the Mk2 and after some investigation the Silver 3.2 was only suffering from a head gasket. I decided the best thing to do would be to fit Old Limes engine into the sliver van untouched and then rebuild the Silver vans engine for the MK2.

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I used to be an Evolution Chips installer and still have my mapping equipment so a cheeky map was loaded before Id even test drove it, I re coded the injectors and did a pump and pilot learn. MY WORD! WHAT A VAN!!!!!!!!

I adore this MWB 3.2. I drive it more than anything else I own, and to think the Mk2 will be lighter still than the Mk7 really really keeps me excited with Mk2 build. The torque from 1500RPM is just crazy and it tows like a dream.

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The Mk7 should be really useful to tow the Mk2 around when it goes for blasting and painting etc and for collecting larger parts too

[Altransit]

Fantastic

[Adam mk1]

That will fly in a mk2,
But what about the points system, the one that the DVLA have for a vehicle? 9 points is the minimum,
5 points original body shell/chassis
2 points each original axle
1 point original engine
2 points original gearbox
1 point original steering
Or factory ford exchange units like for like

[MWMSport]

That will fly in a mk2,
But what about the points system, the one that the DVLA have for a vehicle? 9 points is the minimum,
5 points original body shell/chassis
2 points each original axle
1 point original engine
2 points original gearbox
1 point original steering
Or factory ford exchange units like for like

The van is registered on a UK reg again. There is also a very small side note that says if the modifications are done for safety or to improve emissions or standard parts are no longer available then its acceptable. I would argue that the 3.2 on a modern gearbox is better for emissions, and the upgraded suspension and brakes are safer, and none of the original parts are available to buy from Ford.

[Airthies]

That will fly in a mk2,
But what about the points system, the one that the DVLA have for a vehicle? 9 points is the minimum,
5 points original body shell/chassis
2 points each original axle
1 point original engine
2 points original gearbox
1 point original steering
Or factory ford exchange units like for like

But that's only if you want to keep the original registration and the classic tax & MOT exemption.

If your more focused on building the machine you want, rather than trying to keep within restrictive parameters, it doesn't matter what the DVLA gives you points for.

Personally it wouldn't bother me what reg was on a vehicle if what's between the roof and the tarmac is what I want, and built how I wanted it without compromise. And with that considered, the exemption for a historic vehicle wouldn't matter either.

But each to their own.

Sent from my A55ho11 using Crapatalk

[MWMSport]

So today I started working on a "Project Binky" inspired "Negative suspension jig thingy" It was actually much more of a ball ache than I expected as I needed to keep referencing the MK2 so as not to weld bracing in the way of something that it might foul on. I also needed to have the top mount sections removable so I can work on the subframe mounts first and then I should only have to cut away minimal Mk2 to poke the strut tops through. The strut top sections needed to be pinned so there was no movement at all at the join The smallest bit of slack could result in the mounting being wrong and see the van driving like an old donkey.. (which is still considerably better then the current steering box )

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[MWMSport]

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With the Jig done the front end can go back outside just in case it needs to be referenced in the future and its now time to break down the front of the Mk2 and offer the jig up.